Chapter 159: The Tempering of the Soul

Chapter 159

"Cyril, did you merge with Ling Feng's soul?"

"No!" Cyril replied after a brief silence.

"Oh!"

Although perplexed as to why his personality had changed so drastically of course, out of trust, Mei did not press further.

"Alright, you should go back and rest now!" Having learned what he wanted to know, Cyril began to dismiss her. "Drink your medicine when you get back, and get some proper rest. If you feel emotionally unstable recently, just log into the virtual network. I will find a solution as soon as possible!"

"Mhm, understood! You should get some rest early too. Besides, with the virtual network, my problem isn't very serious for now. You don't need to worry so much!" Hearing this, Mei obediently got out of bed, preparing to leave while speaking with concern.

"I know! Go back now. Good night!" Cyril planted a kiss on Mei's forehead and escorted her out the door.

After Mei left, Cyril locked the bedroom door, set up a barrier, and only then sank his consciousness into his own soul world.

In his dim soul world, right in the middle of a massive magic array, a man sat cross-legged at the very center. Sensing his arrival, the man opened his eyes and habitually raised a hand to adjust his glasses, only remembering halfway up that in his current state, he did not possess any glasses.

"It looks like you've recovered quite well!" Cyril looked the other person up and down and spoke.

"Mhm, you can begin whenever you're ready!" Ling Feng, currently in a soul state, replied with a calm expression.

Ever since he initially agreed to Cyril's transaction, he had already mentally prepared himself. As long as the other party could help him complete his mission, he was willing to pay any price.

And as for the current outcome, it wasn't actually the worst possible result. He would continue to exist in this world in another form, or at least that was what he believed.

"Since you are already prepared, let's begin tonight!" Cyril was quite satisfied with the other man's pragmatism. His active cooperation was far better than being forced, and it would yield a much higher success rate.

Cyril opened a spatial rift and began commanding the skeletons to prepare for activating the magic array.

"May I ask a question?" Ling Feng suddenly spoke up during the gap while the other was preparing.

"What question?" Cyril turned his head to glance at him, multitasking as he spoke.

"Why on earth did you turn yourself into this state? Even if your plan succeeds, are you certain you will still be yourself? Is it worth it?" Ling Feng voiced the doubt that had been buried deep in his heart for a long time.

"What do you think is the standard for judging a person? Appearance? Personality? Soul? Or memories?" Cyril answered the question with a question.

"The initial recognition of a person naturally relies on appearance, and getting to know someone further naturally comes through traits like personality and memory. As for something like the soul, it's a bit too abstract. I can't comment on it!"

"Yet a person's personality will also change, won't it? When a person's personality changes, would you define them as that same person from before, or would you define them as a completely different person?"

"Of course..." Ling Feng opened his mouth, but had no idea how to continue.

Would he define them as the original person? Then wouldn't his previous question be redundant?

Would he consider them not the original person? Yet the essence of that individual hadn't actually changed much.

After finishing all the preparations, Cyril stepped into the magic array and sat down opposite Ling Feng.

"Personality or whatever else—whether for me or for her—has never been important. As long as I retain those memories, and the trust and affection between us remain unchanged, then everything else is insignificant!"

To him, the countless little details of the experiences he and Mei had shared since they first met, and the absolute trust forged between them through those shared experiences, were the most precious wealth of his life and the things that mattered most to him. As long as he still possessed these things, he would still be Cyril.

As for everything else, it held no importance to him.

If needed, he could discard them without a moment's hesitation, even his soul!

"Are you certain she won't mind either?"

"She won't! I understand her just as well as she understands me! We have lived together for decades, and our understanding of each other surpasses our understanding of ourselves. Do you genuinely think she hasn't noticed anything? The reason she asks nothing is because if I were truly in any danger, she would be the very first to sense it. Just like back then across spacetime, when she was in mortal danger, I was still able to feel it."

Cyril the corner of his mouth twitched upward, revealing a gentle smile on his face that Ling Feng had never seen before.

Ling Feng could not comprehend the other man's mindset, nor could he understand the profound bond that existed between Cyril and Mei.

Because in his own life, no such person had ever appeared, and given his personality, he would never allow himself to do anything so overwhelmingly irrational and crazy.

Yet now, he suddenly felt that going crazy for once might not be such a bad thing!

"Are there any other questions?"

This would be their final conversation, so Cyril did not mind letting the other man speak a bit more.

"No other questions! Let's begin!" Ling Feng shook his head.

"Mhm!"

Since neither of them had anything more to say, Cyril naturally had even less to talk about.

Chanting the incantation and activating the array, a fierce gale suddenly swept through Cyril's soul world, and the already dim realm instantly grew even more gloomy and murky.

The only source of light seemed to be the activated magic array itself!

The magic array generated a massive attractive force, gradually expanding outward, and before long, several figures were forcibly pulled toward it by the array.

As those figures drew closer, their appearances gradually came into view—to everyone's astonishment, these people looked exactly identical to Cyril.

And they were none other than the secondary personalities generated by Cyril absorbing the souls of others over a long period.

Every time he devoured a soul, the other party's memories and knowledge would also be fully accepted by him. Much like the fusion between Mei and Number Nine, that intense sense of immersion would make him feel as though he actually were the other person. To strip away this sense of immersion and prevent his personality from being influenced by them while still retaining their knowledge, he had forged one soul avatar after another to bear these memories for him.

Because these soul avatars possessed complete memories, they were naturally influenced by them and thus developed distinct personalities, ultimately forming what was called secondary personalities.

Originally, given Cyril's own powerful soul, these weak secondary personalities would not have had much impact on him.

However, a hidden danger was still a hidden danger, and Cyril would not ignore them simply because they were temporarily unthreatening.

To eliminate the hidden dangers within his body, Cyril, with Dilo's help and after extensive research, designed a magic array. Using a powerful and emotionally resilient soul as the array core, he would devour all the secondary personalities and erase all memories, including his own.

Since these secondary personalities only carried life experiences unrelated to academic knowledge, being devoured would not affect Cyril. The requirement for that soul to be sufficiently strong and resolute was precisely to ensure that during the process of devouring and transformation, the soul would not be adversely affected by these secondary personalities.

After a rigorous refinement of the soul, Cyril would then merge with this soul, which would allow him to reclaim the soul power divided among those secondary personalities while ensuring he needn't worry about his own personality being manipulated.

Yet finding such a soul was no easy task!

For the final fusion, he needed that soul to willingly serve him of its own accord. Yet how many powerhouses were willing to offer their souls to others? And as for the weak, how could Cyril possibly look upon them with favor?

Later on, when he traveled across worlds to this realm, the journey weakened his soul power considerably. On top of that, those secondary personalities within his soul world grew steadily stronger by absorbing the soul power he emitted. Originally, he had harbored some concerns that if the secondary personalities were allowed to grow for a bit longer, his primary personality would likely be compromised. To his surprise, he had the good fortune of running into Ling Feng.

Although this person's strength was not high enough, his soul was unexpectedly powerful. Moreover, his willpower was sufficiently resilient, and he happened to be willing to pay any price for the sake of his mission; no one could possibly be a more suitable candidate.

"Main body, what are you trying to do?" Pulled in by the magic array, one of the secondary personalities asked in a panic.

"You are all redundant. I am taking back the soul power that rightfully belongs to me!"

"You created us! By what right do you now despise us as redundant?" asked a personality with a weaker disposition, filled with hatred.

"Aren't you afraid that after this person devours us, his soul power will surpass yours and end up devouring you in return?" another relatively astute personality could not help chiming in.

"Do you take me for a fool like yourselves?" Cyril said with a mocking tone.

How could he possibly not have considered this issue?

Yet just as he had told Ling Feng earlier, as long as he retained all the memories and emotions shared between him and Mei, he would still be himself. As for what his external personality might transform into, he did not care in the least.

Although Mei didn't seem particularly fond of Ling Feng's personality, that shouldn't be much of an issue.

As long as he loved her, that was enough!

Feeling that the secondary personalities were chattering far too much, Cyril began to accelerate the operation of the array.

Those secondary personalities were drawn into Ling Feng's body one after another by the magic array. Overwhelming power flooded his soul, instantly causing him to feel as though he were about to burst apart, inflicting pain so intense he could barely control himself.

Countless voices echoed in the depths of his mind, constantly luring him, urging him to leave the magic array. As long as he stepped out of the array, he would no longer have to endure such agony.

Yet he could not leave, because once he stepped away, he would lose the ability to use the array's power to suppress these souls and complete the devouring process. Once he left, only one outcome awaited him: his soul would shatter into pieces!

Ling Feng struggled in agony within the magic array, striving to devour those souls one by one, while simultaneously letting the power of the array gradually fade away every single memory within his body.

The process of soul devouring was excruciatingly long!

When the very last personality had been devoured by him, he could no longer remember why he was doing this in the first place.

Only a single thought remained in his mind: there was still one step left. Only by completing that final step would his mission truly be considered finished!

Sustained by that single thought, Ling Feng struggled to his feet and walked toward Cyril.